Ahead of the National People’s Congress annual session next month, during which Xi Jinping is expected to take over as state president, a group of 100 prominent intellectuals, journalists, and lawyers have penned an open letter calling on the NPC to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The ICCPR is one of the key documents making up the United Nations’ international bill of human rights, and signatories who ratify it commit to protecting